Neuroinflammation plays an important role in the progression of
Parkinson's disease (PD) and hence may represent a target for treatment. The drugs used currently for PD only provide symptomatic relief and have adverse effects in addition to their inability in preventing degeneration of neurons.
Flavonoids show potent
antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities which is very valuable for the health of human beings. Thus, in the present study, we have tried to explore the anti-inflammatory activity of orally given
ursolic acid (UA) (25 mg/kg bwt), a pentacyclic
triterpenoid in
1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (
MPTP)-intoxicated mouse model. Significant severe oxidative stress and biochemical alterations have been seen in Parkinsonian mice after
MPTP intoxication. Whereas, UA administration has significantly rescued the harmful consequence of
MPTP intoxication. Ionized
calcium-binding adaptor molecule 1 (Iba1),
tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α), and nuclear
transcription factor-κB (NF-κB) were seen to be altered in the substantia nigra pars compacta (SNpc) of
MPTP-intoxicated mice through immunohistochemical studies. The changes in the expression level of these parameters primarily suggest increased inflammatory responses in
MPTP-intoxicated mice as compared with the control. However, UA have significantly reduced these inflammatory parameters (Iba1 and TNF-α) along with
transcription factor NF-κB, which regulates these inflammatory parameters and thus have inhibited
MPTP-induced
neuroinflammation. The immunoreactivity of
tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) was considerably increased by UA treatment in the SNpc of Parkinsonian mice. The
neuroinflammation and neurodegeneration along with impairments in biochemical and behavioral parameters were found to be reversed on treatment with UA. Thus, UA has shown potent anti-inflammatory activity by preventing the degeneration of dopaminergic neurons from
MPTP-induced Parkinsonian mice.